Stroudsburg earns second-straight trip to district boys soccer final

Top-seeded Stroudsburg reached the District 11 Class AAA final for the second straight year with a 2-1 victory over No. 4 Parkland in the semifinal on Thursday.

MIKE KUHNS

WHITEHALL — Top-seeded Stroudsburg reached the District 11 Class AAA final for the second straight year with a 2-1 victory over No. 4 Parkland in the semifinal on Thursday.

Next up for the Mounties (20-2) is No. 2 Emmaus, a 1-0 winner over Southern Lehigh in the other district semifinal on Thursday. Stroudsburg and Emmaus will play Saturday for the district title at a site and time to be determined. The winner advances to the state tournament and will play the District 1 third-place finisher in the first round on Nov. 6.

Jordon Ellison and Liam Cunningham each scored first-half goals for Stroudsburg, which has taken some anger out of losing its coach for the year, on opponents.

“There's a lot of motivation to get to the championship this year, especially with coach being suspended and everything,” Ellison said. “It'd be nice to get there and get another championship for the school, for our city and for coach.”

Ellison said he's put the anger of not having his father, and the team's coach, James Ellison, behind him. With the elder Ellison not on the field, the senior striker is carrying the Mounties now.

His goal in the 10th minute put the Mounties up 1-0. A pass from John Cilli — the first of Cilli's two assists — found the right foot of the senior, who stuck it knee-high past Parkland keeper Jacob Gottwald.

The Trojans answered .

With 6:17 left to play in the first half, Stroudsburg's defense got turned around with some nifty Parkland passing and Logan Howell tied the game at 1.

The Mounties answered quickly when Cunningham's header off a Cilli corner beat Gottwald again for a 2-1 lead with just 1:59 left in the half.

The second half was even, but despite five shots aside, neither team put a shot on goal. Ellison moved back into a sweeper role late and goalie Nico Ruiz ended the game with the ball in his arms after an easy floater sailed into the box.Two weeks after feeling like he didn't want to play soccer anymore, the smile is back on Ellison's face and the team is a win away from a district championship and a spot in the PIAA tournament.

James Derenzis took over the head coaching duties for Ellison after the suspension, which hit just prior to the Mountain Valley Conference final. The team is 3-0 since the coaching change, and Derenzis said the team is beginning to gain its focus again.

For more on the game, check back at PoconoRecord.com and read Friday's Pocono Record.